52 Facts About Paul Tracy

Paul Anthony Tracy was born on December 17,1968 and is a Canadian-American former professional auto racing driver who competed in CART, the Champ Car World Series and the IndyCar Series.

Paul Tracy is known by the nicknames "PT" and "the Thrill from West Hill".

Paul Tracy was a color commentator on NBC's IndyCar coverage from 2014 to 2021.

Paul Tracy was the winner of the final Can-Am race in series history at the age of 17; in that same race, he achieved the record of the youngest winner in Can-Am history.

In 1988 Paul Tracy raced in the New Zealand Formula Pacific series driving a Graeme Lawrence entered Ralt RT4, his best result was to win both races and the round at Timaru Raceway.

Paul Tracy worked his way up through the North American open-wheel feeder series' culminating with winning the 1990 American Racing Series Championship, and in the process set a record for single-season wins with nine.

Paul Tracy recovered and raced twice more for the team during the season.

Paul Tracy was scheduled to start a selected number of races for Penske in 1992 and ended up starting 11 races, many of them as a substitute driver for the injured Rick Mears.

Paul Tracy led the series in laps led and was voted the most improved driver by his peers.

Paul Tracy rebounded from his poor start and finished on the podium in eight of the final twelve races with victories at Detroit, Nazareth, and Laguna Seca.

Paul Tracy's third-place showing in the points gave Penske a sweep of the top three slots with Al Unser Jr.

Paul Tracy tested for Benetton at Estoril in 1994, setting a faster time than Benetton drivers JJ Lehto and Jos Verstappen had managed for that year's Portuguese Grand Prix, and was only 0.7 sec off of Gerhard Berger's pole time for the same race.

Paul Tracy was only offered a restrictive contract with few guarantees and ultimately decided to stay in North America.

Paul Tracy's return was a disappointment as he finished the season with no wins and 13th in the championship.

Penske waited until the end of the season before terminating Paul Tracy for making detrimental remarks about the team and sponsors.

Paul Tracy was signed by Team Kool Green for the 1998 season.

The low point of the year came in Houston when he crashed out of second place after colliding with his teammate Dario Franchitti, leading to an altercation with team owner Barry Green when Paul Tracy returned to the pits.

Paul Tracy had a chance at redemption and a million-dollar purse in the last race of the season, the Marlboro 500, but while leading the race under caution 3 laps from the finish, he spun off the track while attempting to warm up his tires for the restart.

Paul Tracy did win a race at Milwaukee but failed to finish 10 of 19 races and was 11th in the championship.

Not wanting to drive what he referred to as "crapwagons," Paul Tracy instead opted to join the Player's Forsythe team for the 2003 season.

Paul Tracy had one of the best seasons in CART history, becoming the first driver in 32 years to win the first three races of a season with victories in St Petersburg, Monterrey, and Long Beach.

Paul Tracy won Vancouver, Mid-Ohio, and Mexico City, and led 658 laps, earned six poles, and ten podiums on the way to his first-ever championship.

The lack of sponsor money certainly did not help the team and Paul Tracy was unable to defend his championship in 2004.

Paul Tracy finished fourth in the series, with wins at Long Beach and Vancouver.

Paul Tracy led the points standings after five races, winning at Milwaukee and Cleveland.

Paul Tracy was leading at Toronto when he ran out of fuel and crashed on his own while leading at Denver.

Paul Tracy finished fourth in the standings for the second year in a row.

In May 2006, it was announced that Paul Tracy had re-signed with Forsythe Racing for an additional five seasons.

Paul Tracy then warned Tagliani not to touch him, but the latter persisted and eventually, the two men came to blows before being separated by Champ Car officials.

Paul Tracy noted that Tagliani was still wearing his helmet during the scuffle.

Paul Tracy was docked three points in the championship and was fined US$25,000.

However, during the traditional drivers' presentation before the race, Paul Tracy wore a mask resembling that of Blue Demon and a Quebec flag as a cape while doing wrestling gestures, and the fans began to warm up to him.

Paul Tracy finished the rain-delayed race in the second position behind Bourdais on the following Monday.

In November 2006, Paul Tracy was injured while riding an ATV, but a rumor started that he had jumped a sand trap in a golf cart.

Paul Tracy denied the rumor and stated that he does not even own a golf cart.

In January 2007, Paul Tracy vowed to win the 2007 Champ Car title.

Paul Tracy's best was a 6th at Edmonton with KV, he failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.

Paul Tracy raced for Dragon in the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship in Las Vegas, where he was involved in the 15 car pileup on Lap 11 that resulted in the death of Dan Wheldon.

Paul Tracy announced he would retire from open-wheel racing following the accident.

Paul Tracy dabbled in the NASCAR Busch Series, and attempted to gain a full-season contract in 2007.

However, after poor results in the first three Busch races, Paul Tracy reconsidered and stayed in Champ Car.

Paul Tracy competed in one Camping World Truck Series race in 2008 at Texas Motor Speedway, where he finished 20th for Germain Racing.

In July 2013, Paul Tracy ran in the Stadium Super Trucks, making his debut at Toronto.

In 2021, Paul Tracy competed in the Superstar Racing Experience full time.

Paul Tracy had feuds during the season with Ernie Francis Jr.

For 2022, Paul Tracy scored a podium at Stafford Motor Speedway which would be his only one during the season and finished in 6th in the standings out of the 8 full time drivers.

Paul Tracy has been married three times and has two children.

On July 16,2015, Paul Tracy announced via his Instagram that he had become a citizen of the United States while maintaining his citizenship of Canada.

Paul Tracy is nicknamed "The Thrill from West Hill" for his connection to West Hill, Toronto.

Paul Tracy has dabbled as a professional downhill mountain bike racer.

Paul Tracy raced for Yeti Bicycles and made appearances in the pro class at famous bike races such as the legendary Kamikaze at Mammoth mountain.

Paul Tracy appeared as an on-screen extra in an episode of The Littlest Hobo titled "Torque".